Archives

The private investigator says the Prime Minister’s Office did not accurately report to the ethics commissioner the information he passed on to them. He says he has no evidence as to the conduct of Ms. Guergis in his “possession or knowledge.” The concern, he says, was “optics”.

But, the PMO’s chief parrot defends the decision, citing the evidence that Jaffer was using Guergis’ office and email accounts for his personal business dealings. So, since Harper hasn’t said a word yet about the reasons why Guergis was deposed, would that be his official reason why, since Soudas, his director of […]

The Conservatives have dropped former cabinet minister Helena Guergis as the nominated candidate for Ontario’s Simcoe-Grey riding, according to a news report…The network quoted sources as saying Guergis was removed because the Tories are concerned an election could be called at any moment, and they need to have nominated candidates in all 308 ridings. Last week, the Ontario riding’s electoral district association had written a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, asking that he not interfere in its right to choose a candidate.

2 trains of thought: Harper must really dislike the allegations that he’s been given with regards […]

It appears that the Liberals declining to meet with this private investigator who is apparently the source of info for the Prime Minister and his officials that led them to make the decision turf Helena Guergis from the Cabinet and from the Conservative caucus was a wise move to make, when you read some of the details.

If the Liberals had decided to take the P.I’s call, and release his information publicly, you can be rest assured the Conservatives and Stephen Harper’s reflex and reactive action would have first been screaming “Liberal smear”, and accuse the LPC of politicizing the issue (and then of course engage in some attacks on […]

So a Liberal associate of mine has passed along that the rumor mill going on at “the Hill” in some quarters is that the embattled Helena Guergis will be removed (or possibly “resign”, nudge, wink) this weekend, and that Shelly Glover would take her position in Cabinet.

Now, if you’re not familiar with Shelly Glover, I can point you to a few articles on her that have appeared recently in a couple media outlets.

My view is, if this is true, and Glover is indeed the replacement, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing, because she looks like another accident waiting to happen. Her over-the-top partisan rhetoric (which makes […]

I see Conservative MP Shelly Glover decided to issue an April Fool’s Day declaration 1 day early. Apparently, Shelly has some inside knowledge that “all prisoners vote Liberal” while “all cops vote Conservative” – ergo, that’s why the Liberals put forth “soft on crime’ legislation, because they have a vested interest in keeping the prisoner vote, apparently.

Let me just state that if Helena Guergis gets fired or resigns, and Shelly Glover is the replacement to cabinet, none of the opposition parties will be crying too much in losing an easy target like Helena, because Shelly appears she could ably and easily fill that role.

If you’re working for a Conservative cabinet minister and want to defend that Minister from bad publicity you deem unfair, you probably should make a better effort at hiding your identity when you write in – maybe write up the letter and then have your supportive neighbour or sibling send it in as a LTE, rather then just use your maiden name.. that’s too easy to trace.

What’s more unsettling to me is the 2nd letter from another Guergis staffer who used her real name and sees nothing wrong with writing in to defend her boss, and doesn’t see the apparent conflict in interest in doing so.

Helena has been downgraded from a Category 5 storm with lots of fury and hot air to a very sullen Tropical Storm system. The storm initially roared into and out of PEI, lashing airports and people as it left, but it weakened as it moved towards the mainland. It’s now centred over Ottawa, with the centre of it currently over the the Prime Minister’s Office. No plans by the PMO to apparently do anything however; they hope the storm will eventually go away; it would be rather inconvenient for them to have to act, despite other people advising them they’re sitting under a […]

– Joannie Rochette, who won a bronze medal last night in the women’s figure skating, but would be awarded a gold medal for bravery/courage if there was such a thing.

– Helena Guergis, Minister of state for Status of Women, who decided to throw a tantrum over having to follow airport security procedures that the rest of us regular people have to endure. Apparently, Guergis felt that being a junior Cabinet Minister gave her privileges to avoid those inconveniences, and was enraged when that wasn’t the case. I wonder how the folks in Helena’s riding feel of her performance of late.

A rather amusing interview from Conservative MP Simcoe-Grey MP Helena Guergis today on the reasons for prorogation and how her constituents apparently love it:

Simcoe-Grey MP Helena Guergis says the federal government’s latest prorogation was vital to give it a chance to “take a step back” to make sure it is on the “right track.” Guergis, who is also the Minister of State for the Status of Women, enthusiastically endorsed the closure of parliament until late winter during an interview Tuesday. She also dismissed the thousands of people who have joined Facebook groups opposing the move by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “I am familiar with that, but that’s certainly not […]

This was an interesting story on Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer being described as a “would-be power couple unplugged”:

In 2001, an aide did an interview with a Vancouver radio show in Jaffer’s name. Jaffer first said he’d done the interview, and then confessed…On election night last year, he gave a victory speech, then had to concede defeat to the NDP candidate when the final results were in. When he announced he would seek the nomination again, his riding association told him not to bother.

Guergis, too, has shown less than impeccable judgment. She had a series of meetings in Mexico in 2008 as minister of state for foreign […]